The Case for Faith

I found myself this afternoon engrossed in a book that I had not intended to read - at least not today. I sat down to spend a little time with God, planning to read a little more in John, and then move on to some chores and cleaning that need to be done. Instead, I ended up picking up a book that I bought about a month ago with intentions of reading it when I got the time. The book is called 'The Case for Faith' and it's written by a man named Lee Strobel. Mr. Strobel was an atheist, a former journalist for the Chicago Tribune, who went on a quest to prove / disprove the existence of God (and in another book - The Case for Christ - the deity of Jesus). Although I have not read the book all the way through, I know that he has since abandoned atheism for a belief in God, so I am expecting to find the foundation for his transformation in his book.

In 'The Case for Faith' he addresses what he considers to be the 8 biggest questions that people have that hinder a belief in or a relationship with God. The first - and what he says is the biggest obstacle to faith - is this: 'Since evil and suffering exist, how can a loving God exist?' How can God allow all these horrible things to happen to people? We are often caught up on this issue - even those of us who would claim to be solid in our faith, from time to time, question why certain things happen - especially when they happen to God-fearing people. So Mr. Stroble seeks out a man named Peter Kreeft - a Catholic, and a philosopher - who authored the book 'Making Sense out of Suffering.' He records their conversation in this book...the questions - the answers - the counters. It's quite interesting, and definitely worth taking the time to read.

While I will not recount all of his arguments for the existence of God in the presence of evil and suffering, there are a few things that stood out to me that I wanted to share with you for thought.

1) One of the coolest things about God - one of the things that is a defining characteristic of God - and one of the reasons it is easy to respect Him, if not love Him, is that He gives us free will. He made humankind with the freedom to choose - to choose to serve God or choose to deny Him. And with that freedom of choice, the possibility for evil is introduced. If we can choose our actions, then we can choose to do something less than the perfect will of God. We can choose to say a mean thing, or think an evil thought that may lead to an evil action. We may choose to do something that will result in someone else's suffering. This is not GOD's choice - He would prefer that we choose Him - that we choose all that is good and all that is right. But He will never force that on us - we must choose it for ourselves. And because He will not force us to choose Him, he must allow us to choose evil. Thus, He must allow evil to exist. Otherwise, we must give up our freedom of choice. In the face of logic & reason, there can be no other way for the 2 to simultaneously exist (the 2 being freedom of choice and a world without choice, and thus a world without evil).

2) In a world where evil is a possibility, Love is the answer to evil. It is the response. It is the prevention. Humans have the capability to eliminate evil. And God does not do for us what we are capable of doing ourselves. He may provide divine connection, or divine intervention for circumstances that we otherwise could not arrange or handle without him. But we are all capable of reaching out to those in need. We are capable of listening to those who need to talk, of accepting the unacceptable, of loving the difficult to love. We are capable to aiding those in crisis, of feeding those who are hungry. We cannot each do all of this, but we all can do something. And if each one of us touches the life of someone else with the Love of Jesus, we may just change the path of their choices - we may just prevent one act of evil. Or our love expressed to them in their time of suffering could be the catalyst for healing and change in their lives, which may in turn allow them to reach into the lives of others. This is well within our capabilities, and we each should act on it to the degree that we are capable and are given the opportunity.

3) And maybe my favorite point that Kreeft made in his conversation with Strobel, although possibly the one that is most abstract, and therefore the least relevant, for who those who have not experienced it, is the presence of God. Compared to the awesomeness of the presence of God, the degree of our suffering, no matter how significant it may seem at the time of the suffering, will pale in significance. Job lost seemingly everything by the world's standards, yet in the end, he sees God - he is in the presence of God, and that is enough to satsify him.

And here's another angle to look at the presence of God:
The fact that in all suffering Jesus is there with us, and He feels our pain even more deeply than we do, gives us strength to endure. Jesus is not isolated from the suffering of the world. In fact, He endured the ultimate suffering on the cross. And even though that was 2,000 years ago, He continues to go through it with us - to feel beyond what we feel. And for this alone He, if for no other reason (although there are many), I love Him.